For the purposes of clarity the power supply system of the present invention will be described with respect to a small number of installations, rather than detailed in an exhaustive list of possible installations. In this regard the power supply system of the present invention should not be seen as being limited to the installations described below.
Lighting systems which are designed to operate in hazardous or adverse conditions, such as outdoors, in volatile environments, or underwater are typically custom designed or fitted by specialist installers. The reason for this is that the system needs to be sealed from the environment to ensure durability and reliable operation. In addition, in environments where flammable gases or the like are present the lighting system must be hermetically sealed to ensure no chance of ignition of gasses is possible.
One problem associated with custom designed power supply systems is that they are typically not configured for expandability. At the time of design the number of devices connected to the power supply network and the power consumption requirements of those devices is calculated. A power supply is chosen to provide a specified reliability at the calculated load. If further devices are desired to be connected to the network the loading requirements must be confirmed to be within the supply range of the power supply. Typically the power supply will provide a constant output voltage over a specified current range. Furthermore, connection of the new device will most likely require specialist installation to ensure connection of the new device conforms with the sealing requirements of the system.
It would therefore be useful to have a power supply system which allows for a number of varying load circuits to be easily and conveniently connected thereto without the need for specialist skills or a large number of tools.
It would also be useful to provide a system in which individual circuits connected to the power supply network can be controlled remotely without the need for additional wiring.
All references, including any patents or patent applications cited in this specification are hereby incorporated by reference. No admission is made that any reference constitutes prior art. The discussion of the references states what their authors assert, and the applicants reserve the right to challenge the accuracy and pertinency of the cited documents. It will be clearly understood that, although a number of prior art publications are referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that any of these documents form part of the common general knowledge in the art, in New Zealand or in any other country.
Throughout this specification, the word “comprise”, or variations thereof such as “comprises” or “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps.
It is an object of the present invention to address the foregoing problems or at least to provide the public with a useful choice.
Further aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the ensuing description which is given by way of example only.